Local candidates square off during political forum

Gaston Day School played host to a political forum that featured candidates from local, state and congressional races Monday night.

Michael Barrett

Gaston Day School played host to a political forum that featured candidates from local, state and congressional races Monday night.

The event ran from 5:15 to 9 p.m. and was broken into four different blocks of time. It was sponsored by The Gazette, Gaston Day School, the Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Gaston Jaycees.

Here’s a look at some of the discussions that took place:

U.S.House of Representatives – 10th District

Patrick McHenry, a Republican, is seeking his fifth term in the 10th District of the U.S. House of Representatives. The redrawn district now includes all of Gaston County, as well as the more left-leaning Asheville region.

Patsy Keever, a Democrat, is a retired schoolteacher and N.C. House member who represents Buncombe County.

The two sparred over issues such as the health care mandate, the strategies of addressing the national debt, and how to replace the loss of regional manufacturing jobs.

Keever said the health care mandate should be retained and tweaked as necessary as congressional leaders learn what works about it and what doesn’t.

“It has already done tremendous things to help people,” she said. “It is a large piece of legislation, a work in progress and we need to monitor it as it goes along.”

McHenry said he’d prefer to start from scratch.

“Obamacare is adding to the greater uncertainty of providing health care,” he said. “It’s a travesty. I think we need to repeal it, lock stock and barrel, and replace it with something that makes sense.”

McHenry questioned Keever about her former vote on a N.C. House bill that dealt with convicted sex offenders being hired as paramedics. He said her vote in support of those hires, and other votes to raise taxes many times in her history, was proof that she is “too liberal” for the seat she is seeking.

“I can’t understand how you’d try to carry that record in this conservative district,” he said.

Keever explained that her vote on that sex offender measure was a political statement about the problems she sees in the registry as it now exists.

“The whole point was we need to take a look at our sex offender registry,” she said. “As a teacher, mother and grandmother, I am the first one who wants to protect our kids. But that was clearly a protest vote.”

Keever questioned McHenry about his position on the congressional committee charged with regulating banks, despite the fact that he has received more than $400,000 in political action committee money from banks and similar organizations. McHenry said it has not influenced his votes, and he pointed out that he voted against the federal bailout, which financial institutions most wanted to see pass.

“I voted against the bailout because I thought it was the wrong approach,” he said.

Keever was unconvinced.

“I see things through the eyes of my constituents, and it’s all about putting people first, not corporations,” she said.

Gaston County Board of Education

Twelve candidates for the Gaston County Board of Education participated in the forum, sitting tightly shoulder to shoulder on the auditorium stage.

At one point, the candidates were asked about the school board’s decision earlier this year to not close three aging schools. A firm hired to review the issue had recommended closing them due to escalating maintenance costs and other factors. But school leaders were hesitant about harming the communities where the schools are located.

Several said they weren’t familiar enough with the discussion to say what they would have done. Several incumbents defended their decision to keep the schools open.

Huffman and Helms said they would’ve closed the schools.

“I definitely would’ve voted to close them and I would’ve stayed with that decision if I had been on the board,” Huffman said.

Current said he and the other school board members made the right decision.

“We can’t touch a single school without touching the culture of a town or community,” he said. “I stand by the decision that we made that night.”

Each candidate also offered their views on the concept of paying public school teachers based on the academic performance of their students. Opinions ranged in either direction.

“I’d like to see an adequate base salary first,” said Cherry-Accurso. “I think our teachers are underpaid.”

Howell agreed, with a caveat.

“Yes, if there was an adequate measure for performance,” he said. “It’s the measuring stick by which we measure the teaching performance that I struggle with.”

Bostic said it’s not a logical approach.

“I am not in favor of merit pay simply because we have to work together as a family, as a team,” he said.

Gaston County Board of Commissioners

Four seats on the Gaston County Board of Commissioners will be up for grabs in next month’s election. Two, in Cherryville and Gastonia townships, involve candidates who are running unopposed.

The four candidates challenging one another for the other two seats took part in Monday’s forum. Incumbent Mickey Price will face Tony Duran in South Point Township, while incumbent Joe Carpenter will face Jim Long in Crowders Mountain Township.

County commissioners currently set the property tax rate, and help to fund public schools with the revenue that produces. Candidates were asked whether they would support giving school boards taxing authority that would remove their involvement in decisions about education.

Duran said he is in favor of that, though a system of checks and balances need to be maintained.

“In principle, I understand it and I support it,” he said.

Price said he would be willing to look at any proposed plan, but not without a lot of thought.

“To just create another bureaucratic entity that could tax people?” he said. “I don’t think so.”

Long said it has pros and cons.

“It would certainly take pressure off the county commissioners and make the school board more accountable for their actions,” he said.

Carpenter echoed Price’s concerns, and said he would support the new taxing authority, “if somebody could come up with a good plan for implementing it.”

Asked about their views on the Garden Parkway, a proposed toll road through Gaston County, Duran said he would support it as a free route.

“I’m opposed to it in its current form,” he said. “I’d like to see a road through there that connects to Charlotte-Douglas (International Airport). But let’s not make it a toll road.”

Price said he likes the idea of the state investing nearly $1 billion for construction of the road in Gaston County.

“If not, I would hope a bridge (over the Catawba River) could still be built to support another connection to Mecklenburg County,” he said. He added that would also have to be accompanied by plans to widen South Point, New Hope and Union roads.

Sen. Kathy Harrington and Rep. John Torbett, both Republicans representing Gaston County, are incumbents who have no opposition.

The candidates were asked whether they would be in favor of having Gaston County implement something like the Pennies for Progress program used in South Carolina. It allows a portion of sales tax revenue in a county to be put toward road improvement projects, theoretically speeding-up needed road widenings and other work.

Bumgardner said he would not.

“It’s another tax,” he said.

Reese and McKoy said they would only support it if voters approved the concept through a referendum.

“I just don’t think it would be right for us to say ‘you must do this,’” Reese said.

Hastings also said he’s not in favor.

“As I’ve said before, one of my main goals is to cut taxes, not raise taxes,” he said.

Asked to weigh-in on the federal health care mandate, and how they would help businesses deal with the coming changes, the candidates varied in their responses.

Reese said she supports the measure, despite the concerns many have about its burden on business owners.

“I think it’s important for the people of the county and state,” she said.

Bumgardner said it’s a bad idea.

“This act, I think, is the beginning of the end of America,” he said. “If we don’t get a hold on spending in the medical field, it’s going to destroy all of us.”